(CNN) -- The highly contagious Omicron subvariant BA.2 is now the dominant coronavirus strain in the United States, causing more than half of all COVID-19 infections last week, the CDC says.
The FDA has authorized fourth Pfizer and Moderna Covid vaccine doses for everyone age 50 and older, amid uncertainty over whether an even more contagious version of omicron will cause another wave of infection in the U.S. as it has in Europe and China.
Fewer than 800 coronavirus deaths are being reported each day in the United States, the lowest daily average since before the Omicron variant took hold late last fall. The last time the rate was this low was in mid-August, according to a New York Times database.
Coronavirus tests for uninsured patients are no longer free in some places. That's because the program that reimbursed clinics and hospitals for the testing, as well as for treating uninsured patients with COVID-19, stopped accepting claims last week "due to lack of sufficient funds."
The COVID-19 vaccines themselves are completely free to all Americans, and they'll stay that way when the program funding runs out on April 6. But administering the doses does cost money.
This week, for the first time since the beginning of the pandemic, Tufts Medical Center had no COVID patients in any intensive care units. It lasted just one day, but the hospital said that hasn't happened in just over two years.